Ericsson's revenue in India rises 34%, SEK sales at 3.2 billion

The Swedish telecom gear maker had reported sales of SEK 2.4 billion in the same period last year, the company said in a statement.ET Bureau | Updated: January 28, 2016, 10:10 IST

Ericsson’s Indian unit reported a 34% jump in fourth-quarter net sales to 3.2 billion Swedish krona ($380 million) as telecom operators in the country invested in mobile broadband infrastructure, including 4G, to support rapid growth in data usage.

India was among the top three countries in terms of sales for Ericsson for both the quarter and the past year. India contributed 5% to net sales during 2015 and 4% in the fourth quarter. The US accounted for 31% of net sales, followed by China with 8% in the quarter, according to a statement from Ericsson.

The India unit’s revenue surged 74% to 13.4 billion Swedish krona ($1.57 billion) in 2015 from a year earlier, driven by increased operator investments in mobile broadband infrastructure and professional services.

“Increased focus on network quality and cost optimisation continued to drive strong sales growth for managed services,” the company said.

Ericsson said emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Mexico remained strong, while Russia, Brazil and parts of the Middle East continued to be weak, mainly due to “macro-economic developments.”

India’s telecom operators have been investing in infrastructure to support high growth in data usage across 3G and 4G networks. The Swedish equipment maker recently bagged a multi-million dollar, three-year contract from Vodafone India to upgrade India’s second-largest telco’s 2G network and rollout 3G networks in 10 states, replacing Nokia.

The deal was one of the largest that the Swedish company won in recent times in India, ET reported earlier.

Ericsson India’s revenue from the network business increased 43% to 1.7 billion Swedish krona in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. Global services revenue went up 34% to 1.3 billion Swedish krona, while support solutions revenue fell 24% to 134 million Swedish krona.

The company had 21,999 employees in India as of December 31, up from 19,971a year ago. Ericsson’s net income increased 68% to 7 billion SEK in the fourth quarter and net sales rose 8% to 73.6 billion SEK.